Spinning Lovely Days

It's Now a Tandem

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:49:00 +0000

Kids. I have kidS. Plural. Sometimes, I still get amazed that I'm now a parent to two kids. And their affinity with each other is so clear. Marguerite is delighted in her brother. She has issues about the way things are now, but she has never showed resentment toward Cameron. She's actually very possessive of her brother. The baby, on the other hand, adores his big sister. He loves watching her dance and he thinks she's very funny -- well, 5-yr-old humor would be very sophisticated as perceived by a baby, lol.

Well, folks, Mark put me to shame yesterday. Remember how I said he'd take forever and a month to fix the video for uploading? Lookit! All resized and uploaded.

Pics for Lola's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:54:00 +0000

Hi. I'm posting pics we took of the kids to send especially for my mother-in-law's birthday. She's in Zurich and it has been years since Midge got to see her (there are webcam visits, of course) and Cameron has yet to meet her.

Just in case you don't get the captions, that's just me being stupid. Cameron's are references to Zoolander and Tangled. You'd think I have too much time on my hands, snort. There's also a video, but it's taking me forever to resize it. If Mark were to do it, it would take maybe forever and a month...

Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:51:00 +0000

Time to eat tikoy/niangao once again. If anybody wants to throw some (filled) ang pows this way, I wouldn't object either...

I was born in another year of the dragon. I don't believe in luck, but I'm definitely praying that lots of wonderful things happen for me and my kith and kin this year.

These don't have anything to do with the lunar new year, but I'm posting them... More baby pictures... Happy Chinese New Year!

Take Advantage of Walgreens Prescription Savings Club

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:00:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When we stayed with my aunt in Fresno, there was a Walgreens close to the house so it was easy to make quick trips for any drugstore need we might have had. As frequently as we dropped in for small purchases, it would have really helped to have what Walgreens is offering now, which is a special discount on annual membership for its Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. This comes in really handy for anybody who has a Walgreens close by, but especially so for big families and people with diabetes or other medical conditions. Members receive discount prices on their prescriptions. Benefits also include:

- Savings on more than 8000 brand-name medications, and on all generic ones (which is great news for those who prefer to shop generic, like I do)

- Discounts on flu vaccines (if you believe in vaccination, this is really helpful because they come up with updated versions every year that target new strains, etc.), pet prescriptions (pet medication usually does not figure in the budget, so this could prove to be very useful), diabetic supplies and nebulizers

- Bonuses when you buy Walgreens brand products and avail of its photofinishing services

For just $10 a year, you can get a family membership for everyone in your immediate family - spouse, dependents who are 22 years old and younger, and even pets. For $5, individuals may also join.

You can show support and keep updated by following Walgreens on Twitter @Walgreens, and liking Walgreens on Facebook.

Snarl-free

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:34:00 +0000

I wish I were talking about my parenting. Guess who got a haircut...

We got tired of snarls and constant reminders not to let her hair touch the toilet bowl...

She likes beauty salons (you know, like Lemon Meringue's from Strawberry Shortcake -- she's always giving us a makeovers. I'm seriously pissed that she learned about that stuff this early.) and there's an okay one at the corner, so off we went. This was her first trip. Previous haircuts were done by her Nannie.

Her hair has never been this short since she was probably about 2 years old...

She promised not to cry about missing her long hair, and then she tried to extract a promise from us that we would buy her a Rapunzel wig. Or a Plum Pudding wig because it's purple, and you know, she's frequently Plum Pudding -- e.g. We were at Hobbes and Landes and a clerk at the play area was going around asking the kids their names... everybody else was Nikki or Joaquin or Lindsay, but she gave Plum Pudding as her name, so the poor clerk had to call her that...

I keep on talking about the "last child in the woods" type of exposure, but who am I kidding? The outdoors usually has us breaking out in hives. :(

La Vache Qui... Regarde

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:19:00 +0000

Here are more pictures of the baby. They were actually taken right after the two I featured yesterday had been taken. Babies can get away with wearing cow-inspired outfits to church, because believe it or not, Cameron was about to attend our Thanksgiving Service here on the night before New Year's Eve.

Speaking of cows... Marguerite has inherited my love for cheese... Wait. That sounded like I was calling Marguerite a cow. For the dense, the connection was with cheese, not my daughter. Anyway, she goes around nibbling on all types of cheeses. She particularly likes the soft ones. She was also very involved in the preparation of our holiday fondue. I'm not sure if it was age-appropriate considering there were heat and a sharp object involved (this quote from Friends came zipping to me -- Ross: Like I said, I was thinking of taking Emma to the Museum of Knives and Fire...), but the kid's a pro. Okay, I did fret and supervise a lot, but wielding a fondue fork and dipping baguette pieces in melted cheese came naturally to her. Sorry, no pic from those nights. I don't know why. Everybody was too busy pigging out, I guess.

Sensitive Skin Woes

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:40:00 +0000

Two posts in a row? I must have time on my hands. Or this is a scheduled post. :)

It's not. I'm just blogging against my better judgment. And I actually do have some time. The kids are sleeping. I'm eating breakfast as I do this. I could be working on our slings instead, but it's easier to type in the dark than it is to sew.

So, thoughts... How is it that it felt natural before to share my every thought, rant and rave here? Now, it feels a little forced... Does that mean I had way too much time on my hands before?

Anyway, we're experiencing skin trouble in these parts. Marguerite has some sort of irritation on her legs. I don't know why, just really sensitive skin probably. Remember the itchy grub episode? She and I came out of a playdate with welts from those wretched caterpillars (they weren't on us; we just happened to be where they also had been) while our dates suffered no such discomfort. Anyway, Cameron seems to be having an allergic reaction to something as well; it could be his own drool... Anyway, I'm religiously ministering to Marguerite's irritation with aloe vera (we have some in the garden) and being all finicky about the baby's stuff - we changed his detergent, I've stopped using lotion on my hands (it's a compulsion of mine, my hands feel dry if I don't apply some every couple of hours -- anyway, I switched to petroleum jelly for now), I also stopped using the toner and emulsifier set my sister gave me, the ac's on more because sweating makes Cameron's bumps flare up, etc., I stopped eating chocolates...

So, I've shared some thoughts; now, the pics...

These pics are a couple of weeks old, but...

Cake All You Can

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:15:00 +0000

I have blurry pics! And I announce it as though I expect anybody to be excited about that, lol.

We were up in the mountains again Saturday night. First, we stopped by the nearby sports center to inquire regarding karate lessons. Mark and Marguerite did that while I stayed in the car and nursed, so yeah, basically they came back with details on taekwondo lessons and some vague information on ballet lessons, just the stuff I was expecting to learn... What about karate? Well, folks, we will just change the topic... hee! Next, we drove by the dinky little mall where the dance studio Marguerite took ballet lessons in was located, and now I know why both its landline and mobile numbers were unreachable; there is now a church where the studio used to be. So, it turns out that unexpected (very vague) information on ballet lessons could prove to be useful.

Then we headed on to the mountains because the last time we had been there (last Wednesday, I believe), we had found out about the Seven Suites Hotel (turn left at the corner where The Old Spaghetti House is) and their dessert bar Sugar. We had seen a sign saying something like "All you can cake and coffee", so we thought we'd try it out. That night there were only four choices - carrot, double chocolate, Swiss Alps and caramel. I only had 3 slices, mainly because I had a baby to temper down my full enjoyment. I wasn't going to let shame or fear of diabetes stop me from committing gluttony, but fortunately Cameron was unwittingly saving me from my own foolishness. Mark had to run up and down with Marguerite, so he had an excuse for consuming who-knows-how-many slices. The main draw for Marguerite was the observatory. And the other kids, of course. She said she was going to have a pool party at the hotel for her birthday. Good plan. Our wallet can be thankful that it's crazy typhoon season around that time; pool parties are very rare.

There was a 3-yr-old kid who immediately walked up to Cameron as soon as she got there. While she was playing with the baby, I asked her, "What's your name?" and I heard her say something like, "I cannot say." I felt rebuffed, but impressed. "That's right. You shouldn't tell me because I'm a stranger. Very smart." I did find out her name though. Sort of. I heard her mom call her a name that sounded like Chon-say (Chauncey?) I was telling Mark about the name snub thing, when it occurred to me that she was actually tell me her name (I'm Chon-say). I just misheard. What an idiot! lol I'm sure her parents heard me too, hee.

Anyway, here are the blurry pics, as promised. You have to excuse Marguerite. She's all about the wacky shots these days. It would have been nice to have some pics of the cakes here too, but oh well, it didn't occur to me to take pictures of those.

Dinner out

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:52:00 +0000

I'm all about the pictures these days. If I have none to share, then I probably won't blog, lol. Anyway, these are some taken last Thursday when my little family went out to dinner. I won gift certificates at our church Christmas party raffle (which was pretty amazing considering I normally stink something awful when it comes to raffles) and one of them was for The Old Spaghetti House. Mark and I opted to go to the one in the mountains, one of the branches nearest us (we live in a valley). I've blogged about eating there before here. Did you look? Marguerite was still so little. That was more than 3 years ago. They changed their playground equipment, but the one they have now is still crappy. I'm thinking it's not kids who busted those pieces. After hours, the place turns into a watering hole, so what would you like to bet that adults (presumably - they don't ask for IDs in this country) who've had one too many and decided to get silly at the swings are culpable? Anyway, here are the pics:

Weighing in on Being a WAHM

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:27:00 +0000

"This is my entry to Stay at Home Blessings Adgitize 4th Year Blogging Giveaway. Join and win one year domain name and one-month advertising."

I think that with 5 years of work-at-home experience, I have a pretty good grasp of what is involved in the pursuit. I was a schoolteacher before I became a mom and two months before I gave birth, I had resigned my post to become the primary caregiver of my soon-arriving daughter. A few months into motherhood, I decided to help out my husband with our family income by taking on freelance writing work. I've always freelanced as a writer, mostly of feature stuff and short stories, but writing usually takes a back seat when I'm regularly employed. In any case, I started writing CMS manuals for a web development company. After that, I became aware of online writing gigs - mostly SEO/keyword-oriented writing through a writing egroup I was a member of. In the past 5 years, that has been the major source of my work-at-home income. I've had other gigs such as transcription work, translation, being a voice talent of sorts doing Spanish recordings for call centers, content writing, etc. I've been employed part-time to write, encode, proof, edit... stuff for a tutorial website, and now I'm employed full-time as a press release/article writer... It's hard to work from home, but as long as I can afford to do that, I'll do it because of my kids. It's of the utmost importance to me that I be around for them not only as their primary caregiver, but also as their primary teacher and influence. I'm exhausted though. No, I don't have hired help, although my family, esp my mom, help a lot. Still, I'm really tired. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since my third trimester of pregnancy, and it is only by the grace of God that I function reasonably well. It's really pretty amazing, considering all the things I have to accomplish in a day. It's not anything extraordinarily spectacular for moms, but mothers are amazing creatures anyway...

So Long and Thanks to Adgitize

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:31:00 +0000

I'm really sad about Adgitize closing. I do feel guilty about not being more active in the past months. With the baby and everything else going on, I just couldn't hack blogging in general. I was planning on being active again come January, take a month-long ad as usual, but obviously I was too late. The same thing happened with CMF a few months back. I was inactive for a really long time because of being pregnant sick and pregnant lazy, and then one day, there was an announcement that it was soon closing. I know it couldn't have been just me, but these were programs I really appreciated for making the blogging experience a little bit more lucrative, and through them I met so many wonderful bloggers and got to know of so many fine blogs; I wish I had been more zealous in supporting them. I just thought one inactive member wouldn't do much damage, but of course, collectively, members who thought that way could. Anyway, I just wanted to give a shoutout of "thanks" to these two programs. I guess I'll be concentrating on Entrecard, memes, blog hops, etc. for more visits. Does anybody know if there's a similar program for bloggers? What would you recommend?

Some Pics of My Kids

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:24:00 +0000

Once there was a time when I had a post everyday... EVERYfrigginday... I can barely remember that time. That was probably just a few months ago, but I only have a vague memory of what that's like. And I actually thought I was busy then.

Here's a humdinger: I am not THAT desperate for sleep. When Marguerite was a baby, I got to sleep some at night, and then my mom would let me sleep for about 2-4 hours in the afternoon while she watched the baby. I didn't have regular work then; I wasn't blogging - oh wait, I was. On MySpace. Remember MySpace? Anyway, I went around being all starved for sleep. Now, with Cameron, I sleep about 4-5 hours at night and get no nap during the day. I'm also tending to two kids (not very competently, but they get fed and bathed at the very least). I'm working full-time; the baby's latched on practically the entire time... And I'm pretty okay. Just when I'm thinking I'm all awesome and about to take full credit, I get reminded that I get plenty of help, and that God has made it all possible...

So basically, I'm just going to link to two albums...

Noël

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:38:00 +0000

Not too busy to post a Christmas greeting...

Win a Copy of "News from Dead Mule Swamp" by Joan H. Young

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:58:00 +0000

If Joan aka Sharkbytes hadn't reminded me on Facebook, I would have totally forgotten that I turned 35 a few weeks ago -- So what? Here's what... that's midlife... not according to statistics I know, but according to the Bible (I think). I'm wondering if I should go have a midlife crisis...

Speaking of Sharkbytes, did you know that she's about to publish her own mystery? She's going to give away copies of "News from Dead Mule Swamp" (the first of hopefully many installments of Anastasia Raven mysteries) to winners of a contest she's sponsoring on one of her blogs. You can read the mechanics here. Deadline for entries is before midnight EST on November 30, 2011. I'm definitely joining, and I hope I win. I'm really excited to read it.

Go to the Nearest Forest for Kindergarten

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:53:00 +0000

I was going to write a longer intro for this video, but it's hard to type while nursing...

School's Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten from Rona Richter on Vimeo.

Finally, a Post

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:52:00 +0000

I've been so flippin' busy and I know I've been horribly neglecting this poor blog. I'm still busy, so I'll just basically give you a rundown of what's been going on in my life.

- I've been breastfeeding all this time.

Okay, so that's not all I've been doing, although it certainly feels like it.

- I've been working. FULL TIME. It's been 5 years since I last did that. And I didn't have children then

- The baby blew an accidental (but solid) razzberry about two weeks ago, so now I think he might be a genius! (Moms!)

- Sometimes the baby goes mamamama when he cries or nenenene... which leads me to think that he's already talking (MAMA, obviously, and NENE, which is Taiwanese for boobs - my Taiwanese students told me, the words they choose to teach you, right?), so not only is he talking, he is a freaking polyglot... so my suspicion that he is a genius is further reinforced.

- Have you noticed how I still refer to the baby as the baby? Callhimcameronwhatswrongwithyougah!

- My first-born is officially neglected and has been acting up and therefore has been pronounced "not normal" (which is probably "evil" in their minds), but has been absolved from blame because she is just the victim of bad parenting, God, I want to get out of here!

- I cry a lot, but that has been a regular feature ever since I got pregnant with my first child.

- Speaking of which, Cameron may have a blocked tear duct since his right eye has been watery for the past couple of days.

- I had a slight cold, Marguerite had a worse version, Cameron had a runny nose one day and a crusty nose another day... I thought breastfed babies weren't supposed to catch bugs.

- Things are more or less fine, other than the fact that I'm exhausted and guilty and resentful of some people...

- I'm praying that God help me overcome these weaknesses... and also the hormones...

So here are my kids. I don't really want them to be "normal".

Gentle Discipline, Competition, Etc.

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:48:00 +0000

Slight cold, trying to squelch the little buggers with, uh, overeating... I'll let you know if that works. Moving the baby's well-baby visit to the pedi to Sat because, this gal's no longer a freelancin', freewheelin' agent. Who am I kidding? When was I ever freewheeling in my life? No such pentecostal, I believe, lol...

We were doing our groceries last Sunday and Cameron began to throw the mother of all fits, and there was only one way to calm him down. The nursing station was 3 floors above, so I opted to just find a bench where I could feed the baby, but all the benches nearby were occupied, so I ended up at a Books for Less (thanks to the super nice clerks there), nursing and browsing through the parenting section (the chair was right next to that shelf). Anyway, I was thrilled to find Dr. Sears' Discipline book... As I've mentioned here ad nauseam, I'm doing gentle discipline, but my efforts kind of got derailed ever since we moved back in with my parents. It's a lame excuse, but I just don't have a thick enough hide for certain people's disapproval... So essentially, there's my naturally fiery temper and then the fact that my child's behavior is under scrutiny, so I've kind of strayed from what I believe in just to prove that I'm in control of my child (which is not what I want in the first place -- I want to be in charge, but not in control...) Anyway, with the book, I can get some support and guidance. Mark is also reading it, so at least, we could be a team about the discipline thing. In the past, he was pretty clueless about the method, but he trusted me to have chosen well and to know what I was doing (so unfair, right?)...

Also, here's an article I really like: Striking the Right Balance. I first heard this philosophy from the TV show Dharma & Greg. Dharma's dad Larry was against Dharma entering a ballroom dancing contest because he'd taught her to disapprove of competition -- what he said really struck a chord with me, something about not having to be better than others to feel good about one's self. For somebody who could be a little cut-throat, I found myself really liking the thought behind that. I was the dorky kid who had to have the highest scores, who had to win all the contests (not raffles though as I've always sucked and continue to suck at those... more like the bees type of contests -- you know, spelling, quiz, etc.)... I know this is not a popular belief, but it's what I adhere to...

The Case of the Mermaid and the Missing Doughnut

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:45:00 +0000

It has certainly been a long time between posts, but look! Pictures!

Before cute kiddie pics, here's one of mine. I don't go out without my nursing cover. I made it myself. I just re-purposed an apron using corset boning. Incidentally, I also don't go out without this exhausted, drab, washed-out look. It's my signature look these days.

Here are pics taken at a dedication and birthday party at our church. I think my mom will have to go blonde soon; easier to disguise roots.

Here are pics of Marguerite trick-or-treating. She had been talking about going as a mermaid, specifically Ariel, for the longest time. I asked Mark to look around for a costume, and if he couldn't find one, I'd just make the costume myself (them's brave words -- uh, hello? Time? Sewing skills?). Anyway, it was apparent that neither of us had time to look for and buy an Ariel costume or sew one, so Mark just got the first mermaid costume he found. Thankfully, the little girl had no complaints. Cameron was supposed to go as a doughnut. I made that costume, but we never got around to putting it on him. When he was happy, we didn't want to ruin the mood, and when he was cranky, we didn't want to aggravate things, so... the thing stayed in my bag. Anyway, his socks were a little costume-y. Oh, I'm getting to be good friends with the nurse at the mall's breastfeeding station too. I was there so often that I could have started paying rent.

More Cameron... That was Marguerite's carrier-cum-stroller. Mark had to put it together in a hurry Halloween morning, so he failed to put in all the parts, like the carrier's hood and some cup holders. I think the straps have an extra fastener too. He's so over this stroller though and is talking about getting a lighter, less unwieldy one. Look at the little guy! Does he look like he's a month and half old?

We went to UP afterwards to meet up with Mark's brother's family. See the little boy? That's our nephew Matthew. This was him. How time flies. He's so big now.

What Maternity Leave

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:21:00 +0000

You guys, I'm just here. I'm not quitting blogging, but I just got a full-time job (WAH) and between that and the kids (which means, GAH, breastfeeding and homeschooling and... well, let's just say I'm prioritizing). I'll try to get back in the swing of things soon. Let me just find a rhythm that will allow me some actual down time. Miss all of my blogging friends. Will visit your blogs as soon as I can. xo

She'll Love Him Forever, She'll Like Him for Always

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:37:00 +0000

Here are some really precious pictures of Marguerite and Cameron:

She had been asking (nagging) us to let her carry the baby. I'd really been planning to let her hold Cameron, but I thought it was going to be a bigger production with Mark there and with lots more pillows. In the end, I let her do it one evening at bedtime. Mark wasn't there, but she did it in bed and with my boppy pillow for support. I wanted to get her to say the "I love you forever" lines, but that's the kind of thing that would have me blubbering (and definitely no blubbering - or blinking, or breathing - while a 5-year-old is carrying the baby)

Like I said, Marguerite is very sweet to her baby brother. She loves playing with him (albeit needing to be reminded to be gentle every now and then, or not to do it when he's sleeping) and she calls him "my baby", like when the baby's crying, she'll rush into the room and demand, "What are you doing to my baby?". Of course, there have been moments when she referred to him as "that baby" too, like when he was bawling at 1am, she growled at us, "Somebody make that baby stop!"... Overall, I think her response to the change has been good.

More baby pics:

Make Practical Calls

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:01:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the concerns I have been mulling over that involves my children growing up is their access to gadgets. I personally am not a fan of techie stuff. For starters, they’re usually expensive, and second, they’re usually trendy with models going obsolete practically overnight. Before I launch into my usual rant about consumerism, let me just say that while I did try to stay away from cell phones for as long as I could, I had to give in because they were really practical (if you make a habit of reading crime-suspense-detective novels set pre-‘90s, you’ll know what I mean) and I had no choice; my mom gave me one.

Anyway, the question now is, when is the right age for my kids to have their own cell phones. As it is, my daughter already knows more than I do when it comes to manipulating those newfangled touch screen models. However, I think it is more about need. A 5-year-old doesn’t need it. If you, however, have kids in big school who might need to contact you to say to pick them up earlier or later or not at all since they’ve been invited to hang out at a friend’s house, or if you could park and have a little chat with their teacher, then a cell phone will certainly be useful. Something like a Tracfone, which offers the most inexpensive way to have and use a cell phone in the US, is especially practical for a family of several kids. It’s a great way to stay in touch with the entire brood and keep track of them without getting exorbitant cell phone bills. It also offers great Senior Value being one of the cheapest options available to senior citizens. You don’t have to worry about contracts, credit checks, activation charges or cancellation fees. Coverage and connectivity are excellent (hence its slogan "Get into Everywhereness"), and you can choose phones from all the leading brands. Phone selections include simple phones for simple needs, calling and texting capabilities at less than $10.00, and great phones loaded with features like camera/video recorder, web access, app capabilities, mp3 player, and full QWERTY keyboard, priced at $29.99.

Tracfone has the following monthly plans:

• Pay online or using cards bought at a convenient retail store near you.

• For better value for money, go for 1 year service cards and receive double minutes for the life of your TracFone, and 800 minutes, all for only $119.00. Note: “Double minutes for the life of your phone” can be a separate purchase for only $19.99, but some phones include it automatically!

• You can opt for monthly plans with 200 minutes for less than $30.00, and as low as $9.99 for 50 minutes.

As for International Long Distance:

• Tracfone offers the only wireless service where your international calls cost the same price as any other call.

• You can make 60 international calls directly from your TracFone without paying extra!

• The International Neighbors program allows you to give your family and friends in Mexico or Canada a local phone number in those countries with which to reach you at your TracFone in the States.

For more information, watch the following video:

Whom Cameron Takes After

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:54:00 +0000

Don't you just love dangling prepositions? Anyway...

People who've seen Cameron say that he looks like his Ate. I seem to be capable of making only one kind of baby: THE BEAUTIFUL KIND, hee

Marguerite, about a month old Cameron, a newborn

Too bad I can't find a picture of Cameron doing that exact Angelina Jolie mouth purse. And, yes, I have to admit I frequently call him Midge. I suppose that's normal.

The Goodness of Grass

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:46:00 +0000

I remember this episode in Dharma and Greg when Greg woke up to Dharma laying grass on their apartment floor, something that turned out to be an annual thing for her to welcome spring. There’s just something about grass that evokes a general feeling of good health and freshness. I think that was what Amanda Knox had in mind when she expressed her wish to feel the grass between her toes as soon as she got home to Seattle. Certainly grass supplies oxygen, as well as helps purify the air and lower temperature. These are just some of the grass benefits that Scotts Lawn Builder wants to impart as it launches its social media and national TVC campaign to raise awareness around the health and environmental benefits of grass. It’s called ‘Grass Is Good’ and they kicked it off on October 12 to 13 at Martin Place by laying 400sqm of grass.

Cameron This, Cameron That

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:22:00 +0000

My mom has Cameron and Marguerite is still sleeping, so here's an incoherent blog post.

That picture is pretty old (meaning about 2 weeks old -- Cameron is turning a month old on Saturday), but that will have to do for now. His recent shots show a pretty bad case of baby acne, which will hopefully clear up in a couple of weeks. He's still gorgeous and sweet, but that baby acne is a real bummer, so I'm not sharing those pics if I can help it. That thing on his hand is a diaper. The hospital staff used that to protect his hep-lock. There were some concerns about pus in his urine and the possibility of UTI, and while we were waiting for the urine-culture-wha? results, he was put on antibiotics (I know, I know) and the hep-lock was for that. Anyway, there were tests done on me and on the baby because of his size and the pus-thing, but we're both perfectly healthy. I didn't get sick while pregnant, and my blood sugar was fine... What I do have though is a mother who comes from a family of 9-pounders. Chip was 7.11 lbs (but she was almost 2 weeks early) when she was born and I was 8.4. My mom had a C-section both times, but she's 5'5". She and her siblings were all 9+ pounds with the exception of the youngest who was only 8+ pounds. My grandmother was about 5'7" or 5'8". Btw, I'm 4'11" (either I took after my dad or all those steroids I took for asthma as a kid stunted my growth) and was 75% pregnant belly most of my third trimester. People thought I was ready to give birth on my 6th month and when I was finally full term, they thought I was having twins.

Um, and people (Mark included) who keep on saying it's easier to clean up baby boys... I really don't see how. Maybe I'm just not used to it.

I had some trouble with Cameron's name because while I do like the name, it wasn't really particularly significant to me. And if you know me, you know that things have to be significant... *eye roll* Marguerite's name is exactly what I wanted: French, from nature, the name of one of my favorite fictional characters (Marguerite Blakeney, née St. Just of The Scarlet Pimpernel)... Anyway, I've been trying to come up with reasons why the name Cameron could be significant to me, and the following are just some of the ones I can remember off the top of my head:

- I was a fan of Kirk Cameron (not!).

- My hair back in the '80s was as thick (THICKER and FRIZZIER) as that of Candace Cameron (yes, but who'd name a baby after somebody for that reason?).

- I sometimes think I might have a crush on David Cameron (jk! Okay, that's semi-true, whatever "semi-true" means. In my defense, he does give impassioned speeches...).

- I love Cameron Mackintosh musicals (absolutely gaga over Les Miz -- so this could actually be legit... which reminds me, I used to say that I'd name my son Marius just so I could say to him, "Marius, you're late" a la Enjolras, lol... And, no, no matter how much I loved Enjolras' character, I couldn't get myself to name my son after him... TOTAL SEGUE: Who else is excited over the movie version of Les Miz the musical?!?! I am flippin' excited, but I'll never forgive them if they cast UNDERWHELMING singers. NEVER!).

- Mark is a huge fan of Matt Cameron (former Soundgarden drummer, currently with Pearl Jam - definitely a fascinating drummer to watch).

- My mom is a huge fan of Cameron Mitchell of the Glee Project.

PS. If you have baby acne wisdom to share, please do so...

PPS. I know this sounds a little Catch 22, but the baby blues are in! Too many moments of weeping and thinking somebody is a real tool... lol

Marguerite's Baby

noreply@blogger.com (spinninglovelydays) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:31:00 +0000

Marguerite calls her brother "my baby". Her baby used to be the baby doll we got her - Latte (the name she first suggested for the baby) -but now Latte is so clearly just a toy and Cameron is THE baby, her baby, in fact. She has been very sweet to the baby, but that's not to say that the change in our setup has not caused displays of attitude and moments of clingy behavior. We're still trying to find a new rhythm that works for everybody.

And, you should know too that this is so not the blog post I'd been composing in my head for the past week or so. It's just as well since I think the intended post was just brimming with TMIs - biological and technical stuff that includes mentions of jaundice, baby acne (for the tame parts), explosive poop, gas, engorged boobs, etc.

Anyway, here are pics I took with my phone - some bedtime (for Marguerite) bonding between the Ate (big sister) and the baby.